A motor-driven vehicle, such as a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), an electric vehicle (EV), or a fuel cell vehicle (FCV), driven by a motor generator (MG) connected to a drive wheel of the vehicle has been known. When such a motor-driven vehicle starts forward or backward on an inclined road such as a hill, the vehicle may roll back in a direction opposite to a direction in which the vehicle starts due to a gradient of the road. When the vehicle which rolls back tries to start, the MG performs regenerative action and generates electric power to charge a battery mounted on the vehicle.
If the battery is fully or nearly fully charged, the battery is at very low temperatures, or the battery suffers from failures which make the battery unable to be changed, a charge to the battery is limited or prevented. In this way, if the battery is unable to be charged, the MG is limited to generate electric power and cannot perform the regenerative action. Therefore, the vehicle which rolls back is difficult to start.
JP-A-2008-193772 discloses a technique for allowing a vehicle which rolls back to start by consuming electric power stored in a battery. JP-A-2008-193772 relates to a control apparatus for an electric vehicle having a MG connected to a wheel of the vehicle to drive the wheel and a battery rechargeable by regenerative power of the MG. The control apparatus includes a rollback detector for detecting a rollback of the vehicle and a consumption controller for causing electric power stored in the battery or regenerative power of the MG to be consumed by an electrical load (e.g., compressor).